Markings
by ShandyCandy278
Summary: While fighting Stormy Weather, instead of Ladybug pushing him out of the way, she was too late to save him from the lightning bolt. Although he is unharmed, something about him has changed. In such a big way, that it might just reveal who Chat Noir is to all of Paris... if anyone were to connect the dots, that is. MARICHAT AND ADRINETTE! (WRITTEN BEFORE SEASON 2!)
1. Chapter 1

He looked up with wide eyes at the thunder storm that Stormy Weather had created. A thunderbolt shot down from the clouds and headed straight towards his frozen figure.

'Just my bad luck.' He thought as Ladybug shouted his name right before the lightning bolt hit him.

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"Plagg, are you ok?" The photo shoot had been finished quickly, and now that he was in his room, alone, he could check up on his kwami. He wasn't sure how a lightning bolt would affect his dear friend, but he still couldn't help but worry. He knew he certainly didn't have any side effects.

"I'll be fine as soon as I get my Camembert." Plagg grumbled. "Then we can talk about what all this means." Adrien instantly gave Plagg a wheel of cheese that he had stored in his emergency stash for the kwami. He watched Plagg eat, and when the kwami finished, Adrien had never seen his kwami look so serious, and so dangerous.

"Listen, kid." He said. "Usually, us kwamis take the aftermath of battles with energy loss so that your civilian lives aren't affected. However, when it comes to electricity, we can only take care of somethings." Plagg flew over to the windows and closed the blinds so that almost no light could get through. "Kid, I want you to take off your shirt."

"Alright." Adrien slid his jacket, and then his shirt, off as Plagg turned the room lights off too. Adrien was expecting almost exact darkness except for Plagg, who had a green glow around him. He heard Plagg grab something, a snapping sound was heard, and then he showed a picture on Adrien's phone to Adrien.

"That-" Plagg pointed to the picture on the screen of Adrien's phone that the said boy was now holding. "Is what happens if your struck with lightning while your Cat Noir." Adrien blinked a few times as he stared. The paw print- his signature as Cat Noir- was glowing a dim green color right in between his shoulders. At the top of the circle were two cat ears and around the base was a tail. Markings that looked like lightning marks started from the back of his head down and around that same mark- glowing just like the paw print. The lightning marks stopped just past his mid back, but that wasn't what he was worried about.

"That's on me?" Adrien asked.

"Yes." Plagg nodded. "It's practically invisible in any and all lighting. But, if you do find yourself in a completely dark room, they will start glowing. I'm not sure how well you'd be able to hide these from any civilians that could be with you."

"What about Ladybug?" Plagg hesitated. His slightly glowing green eyes stared straight into Adrien's.

"If she sees you in a dimly lit room with half of the lights turned off, she will notice. She probably won't ask or say anything unless she sees them while you're transformed."

"Those show while I'm transformed?!" Adrien exclaimed.

"Anyone would be able to see them, but they are stronger while your Cat Noir, so simply standing in a dim room would show everyone your markings." Adrien groaned and flopped down on his bed.

"Great." He drawled. "Just. Great."

"But it is highly unlikely." Plagg continued. "After all, I'm pretty sure Ladybug is the only one who would put two and two together. It's not like you're shouting to the world that your Cat Noir."

"Thanks for the advice."

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	2. Chapter 2

Candy: We have two reviews!

Shandy: Move aside, sis.

 **Guest: Thank you, and it was short because I wanted it to be. You'll have to deal with it.**

 **BDemon1995: Nice to know that you're interested. Hope this next chapter will intrigue you more!**

Candy: Also, we have a question.

Shandy: When our attention was brought to Cat Noir almost being hit by lightning and this idea was created, we realized that there are a whole bunch of other things that could've led to his identity being revealed.

Candy: Like during Copy Cat, or Time Breaker, or even Reflecta!

Shandy: So, we were wondering if you'd like to see more reveals based on if something happened differently in one of the episodes.

Candy: Leave your thoughts in the comments, and enjoy the chapter!

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Turns out, his bad luck was just that- bad. It was only the next day and they were watching a movie. The blinds would be drawn and most of the lights would be turned off. In other words- he was screwed if Ladybug was in his class like he thought she was.

"Dude, you should drop the zombie look. It's just Shakespeare." Nino commented as they walked into the school.

"I have nothing against the movie we'll be watching." Adrien clarified with a sigh: "I just didn't sleep well last night." In his mind, he was thinking about snatching a spare black jacket that he had stuffed into his locker. It was made for winter, but if he could sneak it on and off in the middle of class…

He had managed to sneak it into his bag, and he was quite proud of it, too. He would just drape it over his shoulders and pray that he would be beyond lucky- he had even brought Marinette's bracelet today in hopes of the worst not happening.

He didn't mind his lady knowing who he was, but if she found out that he didn't even try to hide it then he would be in deep trouble. Clearly, the markings would be visible even through the clothing, so it would be useless, but wouldn't the thought count? He sure hoped it did.

So he slipped it on during the movie and tried not to look suspicious. Halfway through the movie, Plagg moved up through his jacket to his ear.

"You might want to leave." Adrien tilted his head in question. "Just trust me, this next Akuma will have to do with the darkness, and you don't want anyone to see them while you're a civilian." Adrien nodded and slowly moved out of his seat and to the teacher, who was sitting in a chair by the door.

"Excuse me, I need to go to the bathroom." He said.

"Very well, come back quickly." Adrien nodded and left the room in an attempt to not disturb the class. As soon as he was alone he opened his jacket and let Plagg fly out.

"How do you know that?" He asked.

"Every time before an Akuma, I have moved or shifted in your jacket as I prepared myself to help you become Cat Noir. It's part of the reason why I hate it when you just shout it out before I'm ready." Adrien blinked in shock. "Also, Hawk Moth probably learned from his kwami what happened. Hawk Moth can specifically seek out a certain person with a wish to stay in the dark instead of what he normally does, just so that he can see your markings. Then he can search for you as a civilian and find out who you are. This sadly, isn't preventable unless the Akuma never sees your back, which would be basically impossible for us with our bad luck." Adrien nodded, taking serious note of all of it so that he could relay it to his lady so that they could work together on a solution.

Suddenly, everything went dark, and Adrien reacted instantaneously.

"Plagg! Claws Out!"

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He met his lady when she hopped onto the roof of the school.

"Kitty, are you okay?"

"I should be the one asking you that, m'lady." He replied seriously. "It's pitch black out here and even I have a hard time seeing some things clearly."

"No, I'm talking about your back." Ladybug gestured to his back and Cat Noir looked over his shoulder.

"Oh, you mean my ameowzing marks?" He asked. "My kwami said that you would be able to see them in any dim lighting, but in this darkness everyone will be able to see them whether I'm Cat Noir or a fur-less cat." He shivered. "It'll be extremely risky if I detransform at some point during this Akuma."

"Where did it come from?" Ladybug asked, one of her hands moving to touch the glowing green marks that looked sorta fuzzy because of the fabric.

"When I got hit by Stormy Weather's lightning." Cat Noir shrugged, suddenly feeling the slightest bit strange with anyone besides Nino and the occasional Marinette worrying about him. Especially when the love of your life wants to keep everything about their said life secret. "But that doesn't matter- we need to take down this Akuma as fast as possible."

"Fine- but we will talk about this on patrol tonight." She said sternly. He smiled.

"Wouldn't have it any other way, Bugaboo."

"Down kitty." She joked. "Any ideas?"

"None so far. I haven't even seen or heard of the Akuma yet." Cat Noir looked around a bit. "I would've pulled out my staff, but I'm already light enough. It could even be watching us right now." Ladybug was shocked with how casually he talked about it, and there might've even been a pun in there (how much did he weigh anyway?). She shrugged it off and nodded in agreement.

"Well, in order to find out, we'll have to draw them out." She pointed out, pulling out her yoyo. The light emanated from the screen shocked her, but at least she could see. She had used it earlier to locate Cat Noir (should she be surprised that he was waiting on the top of her school?). Cat nodded and pulled out his staff, opening up the screen to show the last thing he had been on on his staff- the settings icon. He turned on a flashlight that he had on there and began shining it around.

"How'd you do that?" Ladybug asked.

"Well, one day I was a curious cat and decided to find out what all my staff could do." He smirked at her, though he knew she couldn't see. "These weapons of ours really are just a replacement for our phones, minus the games. I could call all of my contacts that I have as a civilian and they would see my civilian name pop up. I can call them too, but you're the only one I can call a face to face for. I don't mind, I love being able to see and talk to my lady." He saw her roll her eyes before holding her yoyo out to him.

"Can you show me how?" She asked.

"Of course!" He stepped closer to her and showed her how to get into settings, and then turned on the flashlight for her. "Might wanna check into that later if you can."

"For now, let's focus on finding the Akuma." Ladybug paused, seeming torn with herself, before holding her hand out. "I know I got the flashlight and all, but… let's stick together." Cat Noir smiled and took her hand.

"Of course m'lady." But she never let go. He was on cloud nine the whole time they searched around, like a beacon in the dark. It was oddly quiet as well as dark- not a single soul was out on the streets either. Footsteps suddenly sounded from behind them- if it weren't for his sensitive hearing, he wouldn't have suspected anything. He turned around and shot the flashlight at the darkness, and was suddenly able to catch a glimpse of what looked to be a vampire.

"Kitty, what-"

"Show yourself, coward!" He called out, pointing to where he last saw the man last, his staff still emanating the light. Slowly, the Akuma did come out with a chuckle. His skin was extremely pale and his eyes were the Sade of dried blood, his own hair black as well. He wore a tuxedo, and as he smiled, Cat Noir and Ladybug could see his pointed canines.

"I am Vampiro, and I shall teach the world how we live- I will show them how the light burns, and I will get them to join me in complete darkness!" He walked- no, floated forward. "Maybe after I take your Miraculous, I'll have a tasty treat." Cat Noir extended his staff and pulled Ladybug behind him as he twirled the staff with a protective hiss. Ladybug kept her light on Vampiro as he began to laugh.

"You're not going to hurt my lady." Cat said.

"Good luck trying too." Vampiro held his hands out and balls of Fire appeared to hover over them. He held one of his hands back and began to throw the balls toward them. Cat Noir deflected each and every one of them with his staff as his Lady thought of a good battle strategy.

( _-ok, I'm not good at battles so skip a little bit-)_

"Ladybug, catch!" Cat Noir threw the false vampire Teeth at her and she caught it, pulling it apart as the black butterfly flew out. Now able to see since it was getting increasingly light outside, she caught it with her yoyo and purified it.

"By by, little butterfly." She said with a soft smile as it flew away. She turned to her kitty, ignoring the way their Miraculous were beeping.

"Tonight, patrol, you know where." Ladybug said as she held her fist out. Cat Noir smiled and nodded, hitting his fist with hers.

"Pound It!"

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	3. Chapter 3

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"Tikki, what was Cat Noir talking about?" Marinette asked under her breath. Unfortunately for her, the poor kwami had passed out and was slowly starting to eat her cookies. She didn't get her answer, and Marinette didn't mind as they began to head back to her house (black outs did cause school to be canceled- especially Akuma based ones). She really couldn't wait to get answers from her partner, but one thought overruled all of that.

"I sure hope that silly kitty is alright."

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"Plagg, you okay?" Adrien asked as he snuck into an alley to transform.

"I'm not, You don't have any of my precious Camembert with you!" Plagg whined. Adrien rolled his eyes and sighed.

"It's only going to get more complicated from here on out, isn't it, Plagg?" He half asked as he began to walk home.

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"Why hello, M'lady!" Cat Noir nearly purred when Ladybug showed up for patrol on the top of the Eiffel Tower. "To what do I owe the purrrleasure?"

"Quit it with the puns, kitty." Marinette poked his back- right in the middle of the paw print. "I want answers."

"Of course." He turned from joking to serious in a matter of seconds, almost surprising Ladybug with how fast he did it. "When I was struck by lightning as a superhero, it affected me in my civilian life as well because Miraculouses don't mix well with electricity. Plagg, my kwami, told me that I was lucky that he was able to make it more noticeable as a superhero rather than as a civilian."

"Go on." Ladybug encouraged.

"So, as Cat Noir, anyone would be able to see my markings as long as it's very dim or completely dark, as you see today and right now." Indeed, his marks were still glowing, but they seemed to be dimmed because of the light from the tower behind them. "As a Civilian, the only time people can see the markings is if I am in a completely dark room. Hawk Moth probably thought that it was the opposite when he sent Vampiro at us today."

"For some strange reason, I feel a but coming on." Ladybug muttered, and her partner laughed.

"That's because there is. You see, you're the exception. If you were to see me in a slightly dim setting as the way I am now, you would be able to see my markings clear as day." He turned away from looking at Paris to look her in the eye. "And if you were to see me in a mostly dim room while I'm a civilian, you would definitely see the markings. Whether you're in suit or not." He watched her as she processed the information.

"So what you're saying, is that it's suddenly more likely that I'll find out your identity on accident?" She asked.

"You're so smart Bugaboo." Cat Noir winked at her and she rolled her eyes. "But on the same serious note, if you do find out who I am, you still don't have to tell me who you are, or that you even know who I am. I'll still be extremely cautious, I don't know if Hawk Moth can see it that way too, and neither does Plagg, but I just wanted to get that out of the way." Ladybug watched him cautiously for a moment before nodding.

"Yes, that is probably the safest way to go about this." She agreed. "But… are you sure you don't want me to tell you?" He laughed- actually had the audacity to laugh, and answered.

"My lady, I very much want you to tell me." He said. "But that's your choice to make and it should be unhindered and not pressured by what I want." He smiled at her and stood up. "I best go home now- it won't be long until my caretaker comes along to make sure I'm in bed. I'll see you next time, M'ladybug." He gave her his classic salute and then proceeded to hop off the tower and run home. Ladybug blinked a few times before laughing.

"That's the first time the silly kitty has ever left before me on patrols." She shrugged. "First time for everything."

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The next few days at school, there was luckily no Akumas, leading Adrien to believe that Hawkmoth was looking for him in his civilian form. He had started to carry his black jacket everywhere with him, and it had already become second nature to know what was going on in class. This time he payed more attention to how dim the lights in the room would be.

His behavior totally flew over his friend's heads (which was really lucky for him) until Alya decided to show them all something.

"Guys, look at this!" She said excitingly. "It was so dark during the last Akuma attack that I couldn't find where the battle was at, so I couldn't film it, but this guy caught the whole thing on tape!"

"That's amazing, Alya!" Nino said as Adrien stiffened slightly.

"That's not all- look at Cat Noir's back!" She paused the video and pinched on the screen until his markings were shown clearly.

"What the- what are those?!" Nino asked, pointing at the markings.

"I've looked into it, and I think those appeared when he was struck by lightning by Stormy Weather."

"D-Doesn't Ladybug's Miraculous Cure fix all the damage the Akuma caused?" Adrien asked, trying not to look guilty of being Cat Noir. "Isn't that a faulty cause?"

"Yeah, but it was only after that that the Mark showed up- definitely not before. I would've seen it if I had." Alya explained. Adrien nodded in understanding. "Makes me wonder if it would show up on his civilian form…" Adrien paled immensely, but thankfully Marinette decided to intervene.

"I don't think it does, Alya." She said. "I'm pretty sure that it's just a marking on his suit that was left from protecting him from the lightning."

"Mari has a pretty good point, Alya." Adrien said, backing up Marinette's false truth. He placed a hand on her shoulder, not noticing how Marinette went rigid and red in the face. "Aren't they magical? Maybe he's reached a new level of power and that's what the markings are for." Alya raised an eyebrow at them and then shrugged it off.

"Whatever you think. Oh, are you guys going to the class's laser tag?"

"Of course!" Adrien smiled. "I've never played before."

"My parents gave me the ok to go." Marinette said.

"Alright, Adrien, how about you be with Mari for the teams since she's the expert."

"Alya!"

"She is? That's awesome! I'll probably need all of the help that I can get." Adrien scratched the back of his head sheepishly with a smile before holding his hand out to Marinette.

"That's me by fine- I mean- fine by me." She stuttered out, shaking his hand.

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	4. Chapter 4

Shandy: Sorry we didn't respond to your reviews last chapter.

Candy: But we can do it now!

 **fairydaisypou: Reveal coming up at the end of this chapter! And yes, poor, oblivious Adrien. XD**

 **Guest: Yup!**

 **thehidden6lade: If that's what helps you, go ahead. :)**

 **obsidiandragon182005: This** **definitely** **isn't the end, I still got chapters to do after this, including a special staring Alya and Nino. Shhh! You didn't hear it from me! XD**

Shandy: Well, we hope you enjoy the story!

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"Alright class, a few rules before we go in." Mme Bustier said as the students began to quiet down. Thank heavens Chloe wasn't there. Their teacher was handed a vest and she demonstrated how to put it on, and then how to properly Fire the gun.

"Do not remove the gun from your vest or remove the vest. Please, do not climb or do parkour while we are in the room. No running, or crouching, and especially NO jackets."

Wait… WHAT?!

"It is especially warm in the arena, and someone has passed out before because of how hot it was. It is required that you take of-" Adrien wasn't listening to the teacher anymore. He was having a slight panic attack in his mind- WHAT THE FLIP WOULD HE DO?! Not only would his markings be visible, but he would have nowhere for Plagg to hide! This wasn't good.

Wait… that's right, the vests had glowing lights on the back, front, and sides. His teammates would see the glow from his back as the glow from his vest- no biggie, they'd look right over that small detail…

What if Ladybug was in his class? Maybe she'd ignore the glowing and think of it as his vest too? He sure hoped so… and Plagg was tiny and black, he could hide himself, right? He looked down at where Plagg's head poked out of his jacket. Plagg rolled his eyes and made a 'go ahead' motion with his paws.

Well, Plagg could phase through objects…

"A-Are you ready, Adrien?" Marinette asked. "Y-You know, t-to kick butt!"

"Absolutely!" Adrien smiled excitedly, taking his jacket off as Marinette did as well. "I bet you'll be an amazing teacher!" He might've winked at her (ok, he totally did) when he said that, and he wasn't entirely sure if she was blushing or not. He accepted the vest handed to him as Marinette accepted hers. They put them on and prepared to enter the arena.

"30 second grace period- we'll have to use that time to find a good base…" Marinette muttered to herself, looking around. Adrien blinked in slight shock. He had seen this side of her before, during DarkBlade, but he had only seen it since in dire situations… to see it now, in a friendly competition, awed him.

"Have you played here before?" He asked.

"Only once, with my parents…" Marinette replied casually, and Adrien was shocked once again. Marinette never spoke like this to him! Could he finally be in the clear for a good friendship with her. But that's when she jumped for some reason and flushed. "I-uh, y-you can lead if you want. I-I can cover." Adrien almost sighed in slight disappointment, but he smiled anyway.

"Sure! Here, let's get to the front." He grabbed her hand and led her through the crowd and to the front as much as he could, completely unaware of the effect that he was having on Marinette.

The doors opened automatically and Adrien continued to lead Marinette through the maze and found a nice place to have the base be. It was very concealed, not really keeping them trapped in a corner. It had the access to two different exits. Their little hideout also had a window facing toward one of their blind spots, this would allow them to sneak-fire on approaching classmates. He turned to look at Marinette.

"Is this good?" He asked. Marinette blinked and looked around, observing the place Adrien had brought her to.

"This is great!" She said happily. "We're elevated above at least half of the playing field and have a poor chance of being discovered as long as we don't snipe all that much and remain hidden." She gave him a look that almost reminded him of what Ladybug looked like when he had proposed a surprisingly good plan. "Not all that bad for a beginner. Are you sure you haven't played before?" Adrien paled.

"I-"

"Game start!" The 30 second grace period was up, and in instant response to the command, Marinette and Adrien went back to back, facing the two different entrance/exit walk ways. Eventually, Marinette giggled a bit.

"That was funny." She whispered. "N-Nice instincts."

"Not so bad yourself." Adrien replied, refusing to let his cheeks heat up. No, bad Adrien. There is no way that Marinette could be Ladybug. She had been behind him the whole time, surely if she was she would've called out on it by now. Or would she have kept quiet about it- no, Marinette was not Ladybug. That was that. A few more minutes passed before Marinette and Adrien relaxed a bit.

"I'm gonna check the window." She said.

"Go ahead, I'll cover." Adrien replied. They had to keep it quiet, after all. For the first half of the game, they pretty much hit everyone at least five times, and no one had hit them yet.

"Got Kim again." Marinette sniggered as a shout of disdain sounded from below. Adrien chuckled.

"Bet ya that Chloe would've been trampled by now." Adrien commented as Marinette took place behind him again.

"Definitely. I would've been the one to do it too." Marinette giggled and Adrien chuckled again.

"I'll be second behind you."

"Really?" Marinette asked curiously.

"Don't get me wrong, she is my friend, but she can be so annoying sometimes. Especially when she clings to me."

"Oh, Adri-kins!" Marinette said in a shrill voice. "We're just the perfect couple I bet all of Paris is jealous of how amazing we are and blah blah-blah." Adrien sniggered at the clear mocking of Chloe and Marinette giggled too.

"I'm so glad I don't have any other friends like that." Adrien said as a pang of guilt hit him. 'Though, that IS the way I act around Ladybug when I'm Cat Noir… Does she find me just as annoying?' He shook his head. 'Nah, she flirts back sometimes, whereas I politely tell Chloe no every single time…'

"Hate to admit it, but I kinda do." Marinette whispered. Adrien blinked in shock. "We met a while ago and he loves to flirt with me every chance he gets. He uses puns a lot too." She laughed a little, and he glanced over his shoulder at her. "I'm pretty sure that he flirts with a lot of other girls too, cause he flirted with me and didn't know that it was me…" She sighed. "I kinda feel bad every time I tell him no."

"Why do you tell him no if he's so persistent? Surely he feels more than a basic attraction towards you." Adrien asked curiously. He shifted over to the sniping window and shot three shots at a confused and angry Alya and Nino, and an unsuspecting Rose.

"Well…" She paused as he moved back into position behind her. "Y-You see, th-there is-"

"ATTENTION!" The speakers above them blared, and they jumped in response. "The people who have the highest points also have the least amount of shots that have hit them. In response to these obvious pros, we have decided to change up the game."

"Any idea who they could be?"

"None at all." Marinette replied worriedly.

"The two pros will be marked with blue lights-" Their vests turned blue instead of the rainbow colors they had been. They stared at each other in shock. They were the pros?! "And everyone else will be split into two teams, red and yellow." Adrien and Marinette both turned to look down just as Alya and Nino turned red, and Rose and a few others they could now see turn yellow. "You might want to know- these two pros are working together." The lights on their vests suddenly turned off. "You have one minute to get with your teams and find the two pros. Shooting the pros gives you ten points per shot!"

"Oh, this is so unfair." Adrien muttered. He grabbed Marinette's hand as the countdown began. "Come on, we have to hightail it out of here before the minute is up, with a better hiding place."

"I know a good one." Marinette said suddenly, moving to walk ahead of him. "And it's not that far from here. I just hope that no one else is there."

"Please note that you can shoot the other team, and if the pros shoot you, they get five points each!" Adrien ignored the voice as he followed Marinette sneak around and away from all of their classmates. Soon, they were in probably the highest place you could get. To get up there required opening a false entrance and climbing a ladder. Adrien was sure to put the false wall back before they climbed up.

"There are two windows up here, and they're big enough for Mylene to stand in. There are plenty of places to hide from the window's sight too."

"How'd you find this place?" Adrien asked.

"Papa tripped last time and pushed the false door out of it's place." Marinette answered. They're vests we're still off, so Adrien deemed it safe enough to walk straight past Marinette and up to the window on the right to look around.

"Dang, you can see everything from here." Adrien said in awe. After a moment or two, Marinette hadn't made a response. Confused, he turned around. "Marinette? Are you ok?" Marinette was staring at him in shock. Then her hand slowly lifted up to point toward him. Adrien thought over everything and swore at his stupidness.

It was really dark up here.

The LED lights in his vest weren't on.

There was literally nothing hiding his markings.

Marinette opened her mouth to say something, but Adrien moved faster, placing his hand over her mouth and pushing her a little against the wall she had backed into.

The lights on their vests lit up bright blue.

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	5. Chapter 5

Shandy: I think we've left everyone hanging long enough.

Candy: Reviews!

 **darkdan-sama: Here's the next chapter!**

 **meggiebd: They are indeed adorable.**

 **pinksakura271: XD Nice puns, and you are right. She won't, and don't worry, how she does reveal herself is the part I'm most proud of. *smirks***

 **Dragon Lord Draco: You're about to find out.**

 **Guest (1): Omgosh, longest review ever. So, Mari's gonna be processing that information for a while. She even talks about in in this chapter, but you won't see her freaking out all that much. Most of it will be internal. I personally think that Marinette will be able to deal with things and panic about those said times when it is the right time to do so. Don't worry, it won't take her long. And about the shirtless thing... no. XD**

 **Guest(2): oh yes, her protecting him from being discovered... You'll** **definitely** **want to read the next chapter.**

 **fairydaisypou: You'll find out! And I can assure you that she is** **definitely** **internally screaming throughout most of this chapter.**

 **Milly The Dragon: Yes, Yes, Yes, and YES! Here's your next chapter, hope you enjoy it!**

 **Guest(3): You'll find out!**

Shandy: Now, to the story!

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It took Adrien a moment to find out what properly to say.

"When I remove my hand." He said slowly In a soft whisper. "Please. Don't. Scream. You can ask me all the questions you want later, but right now, we really can't let ourselves be mauled over by our classmates." Marinette nodded her head a little bit. Adrien slowly removed his hand from her mouth, and relaxed when she didn't freak out. Instead, she seemed to go on autopilot, moving toward the window on the left.

"9:30 tonight, on my balcony." She said in a slightly shaken voice. "Come as your alter ego, we'll talk then."

"Alright."

"Do you want anything when you come?" She seemed to ask as an afterthought.

"Uh… some croissants and Camembert?"

"On it." Adrien smiled a bit as he positioned himself at the right window.

They had continued to snipe at everyone, and no one had found out where they were yet.

"ATTENTION!" The announcer called out, and Adrien groaned. "There will now only be two teams! Pros against amateurs. Pros will now be red, and the amateurs are now blue." Their vests changed again, and Marinette and Adrien paled. "You have a thirty second grace period with your vests still on before you're allowed to shoot. Also, you have about ten minutes left. Good luck!"

"Their gonna find out it's us." Marinette said, moving to sit against the wall in between the two windows. Adrien moved to sit beside her. "Alya and Nino are going to kill us when the game's over…"

"Any last words?" Adrien joked, and they laughed.

"Well, there is something that I've been meaning to give you…" Marinette replied truthfully. "I-I never really gave you your birthday present, so…" She reached into her back pocket and pulled out a very cute plush that was as big as his palm. It was a curled up black cat that looked to be sleeping. One of it's green eyes, however, was slightly open and watching a little ladybug that was on the top of it's nose.

"You made this?" He asked in awe. It looked really professional, and the fabric was so soft that he found himself caressing it with his thumb.

"W-Well, it's kinda a prototype." She admitted. "I-I was going to make a full-fledged pillow out of it, but I ended up using the fabric for some clothes." She laughed a little.

"That sounds amazing! This is amazing!" He turned to look her in the eye. "Marinette, you are amazing." Marinette smiled shyly, and Adrien knew that both of them were blushing.

"MARINETTE DUPAIN-CHENG!" Alya's voice echoed through the maze.

"ADRIEN AGRESTE!" Nino shortly followed. The two shouts of anger pulled the two out of their spell and they grabbed their guns, ready to shoot from their sneaky hiding place.

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"GAME OVER! GAME OVER! PLEASE FOLLOW THE EXIT SIGNS TO THE EXIT! SCORE BOARD IS ON YOUR RIGHT! RETURN YOUR VESTS TO YOUR LEFT! HAVE A SPLENDID DAY!" Marinette and Adrien sighed in relief as their vests turned rainbow. They walked down and exited from their hiding place, replacing the false door. They joked with each other a bit in an attempt to help calm and comfort each other before they were left to their classmate's wrath. They snuck behind everyone when they caught up to the group and were the first to return their vests before they caught sight of the leader board… and table. The table showed where everyone had been throughout the course of the game. A number represented the people from the leader board. Speaking of which, he and Marinette were tied.

"Great job Mari." Adrien said, offering his fist to her. She smiled at him and gave him a fist bump in reply.

"Not so bad yourself…" She leaned in a little closer and whispered. "Chat." If Adrien's face wasn't red before it sure was now. And he was mortified. The Marinette he knew had never acted like this!

"That's where they were?!"

"How did they even get up there? We searched all over the place for the entrance earlier on and couldn't find it!" Their classmates complained. Marinette and Adrien returned their focus to the table to see their blue dots where they were for the last half of the game.

"You know…" Adrien paused, and all of their friends jumped to look at the two of them. "It helps if you have an expert with you the whole time." He patted Marinette on the back and Marinette's face burned red. "I just have a good shot." He chuckled.

"Y-You were the one that led us to that first place." Marinette pointed out. "And suggested moving somewhere safer for the second half."

"You forget- you're the one that led us there." He winked at her. "Five points per classmate shot. No wonder we ended up with a total of three hundred and fifteen points." Marinette giggled and all of their classmates gave them dirty looks.

"Speaking of points…" They all turned to see the guy who was the announcer. In his hands were two baskets. "You two destroyed the last record! Annihilated it if you two put your points together!" He handed the baskets to the two with a smile. "As a reward, you can take any three jumbo prizes and any fifteen normal prizes! We can even deliver them to your house for you." Adrien and Marinette gaped at him. "If you'd follow me, please. You're friends can come if they want to." Adrien and Marinette looked at each other and then at Alya and Nino.

"Go on." Alya said. "I'll interrogate you two later."

"A-Alright." Marinette stuttered.

"Let's go." Adrien replied.

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They had taken all of their winnings home, and now Marinette was waiting with two cups of hot chocolate, on the roof balcony, for Chat to pop up. She checked her watch and found that she was only two minutes off. Down in her bedroom it was about 9:29. She yawned and looked around.

Now, don't get her wrong, she was still shocked that her partner was the love of her life all along. She was still coming to grips with it, but she needed to keep her act up. She wasn't ready quite yet for Chat- Adrien to figure out that she was Ladybug. She turned when she heard him land behind her.

"Good evening, Purrrincess." He greeted with a playful smirk, and seeing that on Adrien's face made her face heat up immensely.

"Kitty." She greeted, offering him a plate of Camembert and Croissants, and a cup of hot chocolate. "We can go inside if you want." She had taken down and replaced all of her posters previously in preparation. "I just figured that I'd meet you out here." He swallowed part of one of the croissants that he already had in his mouth.

"That sounds great, Mari." She giggled and opened the skylight to let him and herself inside. The big pink bear that she had gotten as one of her prizes was by the chaise, and she sat right in front of it as Chat Noir made himself comfortable. A few seconds later he became Adrien again. Marinette blinked in shock at seeing the transformation and at what she supposed was his kwami. A literal black cat with green eyes. It went straight for the Camembert, gobbling it up greedily. Not like Tikki at all, she decided. She stared at it questioningly, wondering what he was actually like. Adrien caught her staring and cleared his theist.

"Uh, Marinette, this is my Kwami, Plagg. Plagg basically gives me my powers and my mask. Plagg, this is Marinette, the classmate that sits behind me in class." Marinette smiled a little.

"Aww, he looks like a mini cat!" She cooed. Tikki had told her beforehand a sweet spot of his, and maybe if she played the innocent girl…

As expected, Plagg flew straight for her face. "I am not a mini cat! I am a Demigod of destruction and you will respect me. If you refer me to any animal, it should be a-" He stopped in mid sentence as Marinette lifted a hand to behind his right ear and started scratching it lightly. Marinette giggled as he purred, leaning into her touch.

"So cute!" She said with a smile as Adrien stared at her in shock.

"How did you do that?" He asked. "I can never get him to shut up!"

"I don't know." Marinette smiled a little knowing smile before she stopped. "So, Plagg helps you become Chat Noir?"

"Basically, yeah." Adrien shifted and bit into his croissant.

"How did you get those marks? Was Alya right?" Marinette asked for the show of it.

"Yeah… Alya was right in almost all of it. I was hit by lightning in suit, and it left an imprint on my body since the Miraculous-" He pointed to his ring. "And electricity don't work so well."

"I see. Does Hawk Moth know?"

"Not my identity, but it is easier for him to find out now. And Ladybug."

"You mean, Ladybug doesn't know?" Marinette asked innocently. On the inside she was laughing so hard. The irony!

"She doesn't want us to reveal who we are to each other." He sighed. "Protecting us behind the masks and our family and loved ones."

"Do…" She swallowed nervously. "What do really think about Ladybug?"

"She's amazing." He sighed happily. "In the suit, as you can probably already see, I'm a lot more casual and comfortable with expressing myself. It gets even easier when she's around. Until today, she was probably the only person besides Plagg here who knew what I could really be like. And… now there's you." He smiled a bit and she motioned for him to continue with a polite smile and nod. "She's so kind and beautiful and generous. She's really smart and creative two! I can't count on both of my hands alone how many times she's helped us get out of a sticky situation with her very creative lucky charms."

"Those do seem to be really random." Marinette commented.

"Most of them are water related." He said seriously. "I've been thinking about taking M'lady to the beach one day."

"D-Do you really love her?" Marinette asked.

"I-I do." He admitted, his face heating up. "She's amazing. Even when she was clumsy and unsure when we first met. She's the awesomest person in the whole world!" He seemed to go off into his own fantasy world, and Marinette suddenly knew how Alya felt whenever this happened. "I know that if I knew who she was behind the mask, that she would still be just as spectacular! Maybe even more so!"

"Sounds perfect."

"She is." He sighed, and she giggled.

"Is there a single thing you don't like about her?"

"None at all, Princess." He said, then he paused as he seemed to come back to reality and hung his head in shame. "Sorry. I'm probably making you uncomfortable."

"Na, it's fine." Marinette brushed it off. "Why do you call me Princess anyway?"

"W-Well-" His face flushed redder than before. "I realized how similar you are to a Princess during Evillustrator. Not like the classic ones- like the more modern ones in the Disney films. And then it just… stuck." Marinette laughed.

"It's not every day I'm called a Princess." She commented. "If it is so, are you my Knight?"

"In shinning leather." Adrien bowed and they laughed together.

"So, does anyone else know that you're you?" Marinette asked.

"No one but you, Princess." He winked at her again, and she found that it was easier to laugh the blush on her cheeks off. "Do you have any other questions?"

"Wanna play some games with me?"

"Of course!"

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The next school day (which was two days later) Marinette and Adrien had agreed meeting and hanging out before school started, Adrien leaving about two hours later. So when He was talking with Marinette about one of the new projects coming up, and Nino and Alya decided to walk into the classroom too, they were in for quite a shock.

"So, you're planning on theming the shirt on the Victorian Dresses during the Renaissance?" Adrien whistled from his seat in front of Marinette. "How are you going to pull that one off?"

"Well, Layering the bottom and making it a little baggy and longer than the average shirt will definitely help- oh, Hi Alya, Nino- and then I figured that it would be wide cut around the neck, and the sleeves in the same shape as the ones on the dresses."

"What about the fabric?"

"I haven't decided what I'm going to use yet. It's gotta be comfortable for everyday wear, but look more like an antique than a shirt…" Marinette paused, then looked at Alya and Nino curiously. Adrien turned around as well, only to see the two were staring at them as though they had just transformed into Ladybug and Chat Noir.

"Uh…" Adrien paused before waving. "Hello, Nino, Alya. Are you ok?"

"Dudes!" Nino exclaimed, first to break out of his stupor. "Since when did you two become best buds?!"

"While we were helping each other during laser tag." Adrien admitted. "Not a lot of people approached our hiding spots, so we talked a lot." He shrugged and turned back around and faced Marinette. "What about the colors?"

"Well, blue and pink are often overused colors when thinking about the Victorian era, so I figured that I'd either do yellow and gold or green and gold." Adrien hummed in agreement as Nino tried to snap Alya out of her surprised shock. "What about you?" Adrien laughed awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck.

"I think I'm just gonna do the essay." He admitted. "You know, I'm usually selling the clothes, not making or designing them. I'm more of Math and science than art."

"No wonder you're so great at Physics." Marinette laughed, and Adrien laughed with her.

He liked this. He had always wanted to be comfortable with Marinette, but before the other day it was nearly impossible. Now though? It was so easy. Was it because he was Chat Noir? He would ask, but Nino and Alya are in the room… maybe she had been intimidated by him being a model and the son of her fashion idol? That sounded about right. Knowing that he was a superhero, a silly and joking one at that, probably helped her relax. Man, if this is what it took he would've done it sooner!

"Alya!" Nino shouted in Alya's ear, prompting Adrien to turn back around. "Dudette, snap out of it."

"EEEEEIIIIIII!" She screamed suddenly. "Oh my gosh, Marinette here at school early AND talking to you without a problem?! If I had known you two spending some time together would result in this, I would've done it sooner!" She literally skipped to her seat and Nino followed with a roll of his eyes. "Anyway- I want to know just how you evaded us for so long during the game.

"We went on the offense every few minutes, and when the rules were changed we went from one slightly elevated place to another elevated place and sniped." Marinette said simply. "And as Adrien said, he's a great shot." Marinette winked at Adrien. Adrien opened his mouth with a witty comment, stopped himself, and hung his head in defeat.

"Girl, you gotta give me all the deets."

"Alya-"

"DEEEETS!" Alya basically yelled in her ear.

"Okay, Okay, I'll tell you later!" Marinette laughed.

"Oh, Mari, that reminds me!" Adrien perked up. "I am able to come over to your house and hang out after school until dinner time. Nathalie managed to convince dad to give me a day off, and today is that day."

"That's great! I'll tell maman and papa that you're coming over!" Marinette pulled out her phone to tell them. "They'll be so excited- sorry, they might try to offer you lots and lots of sweets again…"

"No problem, I'd love it!

"DDDDEEEEEETTTTSSSS!"

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	6. Chapter 6

ShandY: Alright, we have good news and bad news.

Candy: Good News- another reveal this chapter, and add onto that an unsuspecting sunshine child!

Shandy: The bad news is that this is the last chapter of the story.

Candy: Anyways- reviews!

 **Guest: MOTHER OF- dang, I wouldn't be surprised if you're the same person that has been posting long reviews on my two main miraculous stories! Also, I'm not going into detail about their thought process and how they deal with it specifically. A lot of other people already do it, and I figured that I would stay light on the subject for this story.**

 **Dragon Lord Draco: Hold up- *changes something on computer* _Alya: Well, you need a lot of breath, a lot of practice, and a huge want for that thing. If you're curious, using this tactic has worked time and time again when trying to get an interview for my blog._ Shandy: I'm responding to the reviews this time- we switch off every other time we update. Nothing's special about the line break except for the fact that we needed something to use, and we didn't know that fanfiction already had a line break that we could use. Using a bunch of random letters in order, or having a repeat of the same old letters, is really annoying. Also, making our own lines and personalized line breaks is time consuming. The easiest way out, we decided, was to just hit a bunch of random numbers to form a line. (If this does count as a special reason- the line break signaling the end of one chapter is the exact same as the line break that we'll use for the beginning of the chapter after that.)**

 **pinksakura271: Yup! Well, she hasn't completely accepted it yet, but she'll be pretty darn close to it by the end of the chapter! Also, hold the phone on Alya breaking, it officially happens at the end of this chapter. XD**

 **RUNNFROMTHEAK: She's me too. XD**

 **Evander1435: Poor, oblivious but determined Alya. XD I suggest reading the bonus at the end of this chapter.**

 **darkdan-sama: Thank you, and if you want to see her in bigger shot, I'd suggest paying close attention to the end. XD**

 **fairydaisypou: NEXT CHAPTER IS HERE! And prepare for reveal, cause it's coming in fast!**

Shandy: Now, normally we'd say 'on with the story', but we just want to say thank you so much.

Candy: For favoriting, following, reviewing, and supporting us and this story!

Shandy: Sadly, it's time for the updates on this story to end.

Candy: So enjoy this last chapter, you guys have deserved it.

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Adrien sighed happily as he collapsed onto his bed. Hanging out with Marinette had been absolutely wonderful! He had spent most of the afternoon at her house, and in a few minutes it would be time for patrol to see his lady! Life was great!

"Hey, kid."

"Not now, Plagg, let me embrace this happiness before you point out something bad about my life before I become even luckier and meet up with Ladybug."

"Ah, now I've been proven again that you are my kitty." Adrien sat up and literally jumped off of his bed, turning to face Ladybug, who had been observing his wall… the one that he had specifically dedicated to Ladybug.

"L-Ladybug?!" He asked. "Wha- how-"

"Well, you have that one window that you have loose to escape and be Chat for one thing, that's how I got in." She said calmly before throwing a smirk in his direction, turning to face him head on. "Why I'm here, though, I figured that it would do good to let you know that I had figured you out. Also, I had talked to master Fu about it just before I came here- there is a way to remove the markings and keep you safe from Hawkmoth's prying eyes. As a civilian, anyway. Can't do anything about the imprint left on your suit."

"Wh-wh-what?" She giggled cutely.

"Man, if I knew that I could get you flustered like this, silly kitty, I would've done it sooner. Nice payback for all the times I got flustered by you." Adrien flushed red as his mind seemed to reboot…

"Wait, I made you flustered?!"

"Quite a few times, actually." Ladybug began walking over to Adrien. "But besided the point, are you ready to be cured, Adrien?"

"Y-You should know!" He said suddenly. "I-I was going to tell you on patrol, but…" He scratched the back of his head nervously, and Ladybug gave him a curious look. "There's a… girl, in my class. Sh-she found out my identity-"

"While you're class went out to go and play laser tag." Ladybug began to walk forward again until she was right in front of Adrien. "Yes, I know."

"Y-You know?" He asked in a whisper.

"Kitty… who do you think I was going to give the stuffed black cat to?" Ladybug asked just as quietly, giggling again. "Now, stay still, I've only done this once before."

"Wai- wha-" But Adrien was cut off as Ladybug's lips met his own. It was short, but long enough for him to relax. When she broke away, he was still dazed. She looked at his back and smiled.

"Good, they're gone now." She touched his nose and threw him a wink. "I'll see you tomorrow at school, kitty." She walked up the window and paused, turning to face him. "By the way, leave patrol to me tonight. My gift to you, my kitty." She then turned around and left through the window.

And then Adrien promptly fainted, landing on his bed.

Ladybug had kissed, him, after all.

And she had just revealed her identity.

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How had he not seen it before?!

In her smile, laugh, amazingly kind personality… it all made sense!

He was so stupid.

"Kid, you're staring into space again."

"Omygosh- she had said AGAIN! At what other time did she kiss me?" Adrien exclaimed, running a hand through his hair. "Plagg, do you know?!"

"Know what?"

"AT WHAT OTHER TIME HAD SHE KISSED ME?" Adrien threw his face into his pillow and groaned. Plagg rolled his eyes.

"I don't know what crap is going on, but you're going to be late."

"Wait… I can't be late! Ladybug is Marinette! She'll be at school!"

"Well duh."

"I can't miss a chance to see my lady- or will I use princess?" He sat up and rushed off the bed as he snapped his fingers. "I know, as Marinette she'll be princess and as Ladybug she'll be my lady-" He froze. "Gah- this is so confusing- they're the same person and I shouldn't have to call them different names depending on whether she's wearing a mask or not-" He continued on and threw his clothes on, not caring about how his hair was a little messier than normal.

"Kid."

"OOO- I should get her something? But what?" He tapped his head lightly while he tried to think, picking up his school bag in the process. "What's fit for a Princess? Maybe some flowers? Nah, that's overused… maybe I should check my manga-"

"ADRIEN YOU NEED TO GO TO SCHOOL!" PLagg shouted. Adrien jumped and looked at the time.

"Gah, you're right." He opened up his jacket and PLagg flew into it. "Seeing her first, getting romantic gift to woo her later." PLagg rolled his eyes as Adrien hurried down the stairs and toward where the limo was waiting. Adrien shifted nervously the whole ride to school, hoping that Marinette would be early once again…

And there she was. Talking with Alya and Nino on the front steps to the school. He opened the door, said thank you to his bodyguard and father's assistant, and hurried up the stairs to Marinette… his lady.

"H-Hi guys!" He said happily. Alya raised an eyebrow.

"And what's got the sunshine child shining more brightly than normal today?" She asked. "I think I might actually need some sunscreen…"

"Nothing, nothing at all." He said with a smile, before looking into Marinette's eyes, winking at her "Isn't that right, Princess?"

"That's right." Marinette smiled and threw her own wink back. "Nothing at all…" She leaned over to whisper into his ear. "My silly kitty."

Adrien swore that he died and went to heaven.

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 _ **Bonus scene: Alya and Nino make an interesting Discovery...**_

"Alya, I don't think-"

"It has to! I've been collecting data from recent events and from things that have happened in the past!" Alya finished pinning a red string and a picture on her news-board that she had cleared for the occasion.

"Alya, you've been at this ever since they got together." Nino groaned, spinning around a bit in her chair. "Don't you think you should just- I don't know- move on?"

"But now that I think about it, there's no way that them spending only an hour together mostly alone three months ago would have helped Marinette stop stuttering! I get Adrien paying more attention to her, but come on! I'm not going to buy that excuse." Nino rolled his eyes at his girlfriend.

After it hit her how completely uncanny they had acted three months ago when Adrien had asked Marinette out on the first date, she had been collecting all sorts of clues to try and figure out just what had set off the chain reaction.

On top of running the Ladyblog, trying to figure out the superhero's said identities, school assignments, and working a part time job, she needed his help on it.

If Nino knew that she was going to become this obsessed over it, there was no way he would've agreed. But he had given his word- and his word he was going to keep.

"You know…" Nino paused, remembering something from earlier today. "They do seem absent most of the time around akumas."

"They said that they took the time away from the public eye to be more free and stuff." Alya brushed off. "Since almost everyone will be focused on the akuma and superheros, they had more time to be themselves and not worry about the press." Nino rolled his eyes- even he knew that was a lie. Alya seemed the most oblivious out of everyone in class right now.

"But Alya, it happened before they got together as well, remember?" Nino leaned back as he spinned around again. "I remember you suspecting Marinette of leading a double life before. What if they're both doing it."

"That's ridiculous." Alya said as she observed her work, tapping a pencil against her chin. "Mari would never lie to me, and you know how bad Adrien lies. I've asked them and looked all over for room and they don't have any and told me so."

"But if they were leading a double life, wouldn't they keep it secret?" Nino asked. Alya froze, looking at the pictures with wide eyes as it clicked in her head.

"Crap."

"What?"

"No. Way."

"Alya what is it?"

"There's only one thing that looks like this that I own."

"And that is?"

"The Ladybug and Cat Noir board."

"..."

"..."

"... S***."

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